Improving skills Former: @DrivelineBB Writing on baseball & sports in the link below
Joined August 2009
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OC retweeted
Pete Crow-Armstrong has faced 28 teams and 286 pitchers in 22 stadiums so far this season, which isn't over yet
Joe DiMaggio faced 7 teams and 321 pitchers in 9 stadiums in his entire (regular season) career, which spanned 13 seasons between 1936-1951.
It's a different sport.
OC retweeted
For context here is the MLB ball next to the MiLB ball (Florida State) both from this season.
MLB on the right, is hand sewn, the seams are wider and flatter and the ball looks and feels rounder.
OC retweeted
One of the more annoying parts of pro ball - the different ball.
Besides spin characteristics the “feel” is quite a bit different, too.
IIRC I they can’t produce equivalent balls across all levels at the volume required. There’s no machine that can stitch an MLB ball.
OC retweeted
As others have pointed out, the Nationals also waited until after Mikolas received his full pension/10 years of service time last week.
That may seem meaningless to fans, but players notice that kind of thing.
When players talk about the Dodgers, it’s obviously the money, but they also talk about all the other things they do well to take care of players.
It helps to be known as an org that does right by guys. And it helps get them to give their all for you in turn.
Love that we have a front office that thinks through this stuff and does right by people.
OC retweeted
BB% has remained relatively stable (7.5%–10.5% band) across a century of baseball, while K% has surged since the 1950s. As a result, K-BB% has grown from roughly 0.0% during the 1920s–1940s to over 13.0%–14.0% in the modern era.
OC retweeted
Teams play a better defensive player and slightly worse bat than a worse defensive player and better bat 9/10 times.
You can see this in lineup decisions, trades, the draft, etc
It’s a significant chunk of why the game looks different now.
OC retweeted
Every time I watch MLB hitters take BP, I see the exact opposite of this. Hitters still very much work the middle, the gaps, etc. I honestly don’t see much difference between the BP of the early 2000s and the BP of today.
OC retweeted
The biggest difference today is the structured play. When kids are at the park and nobody is around, they play. When a kid doesn’t feel good throwing, he stops. Today every throw is at a structured practice, game, or pitching lesson. Let the kids play and they’ll be healthier.
OC retweeted
A reminder that bat speed is, to a large extent, a timing metric
Early contact or short-swing means that we "stopped short" on the clock. Naturally, the speed won't be there... unless of course the batter TIMED the swing to want to make early contact
Be careful out there...
OC retweeted
A great piece today from @GeoffPontesBA on the Delano Bat craze that's happening this summer in amateur baseball.
Is it wood? Is it composite? How much does it cloud a scout's ability to project hitting skill and power? Is it legal? Should it be?
baseballamerica.com/stories/…
OC retweeted
🛎️ “You can’t run fast by running poorly.”
Some performance problems aren’t primarily informational or perceptual. They’re capability or organization problems.
One of the best parts of @SHREDmillSpeed is you can’t run fast by running poorly.
Had a kid make a 2 MPH jump from rep one to rep two just by understanding big anterior pelvic tilt with big back side mechanics will never be an efficient way to put force into the ground.
OC retweeted
🔥 Hot Take: If multiple successful solutions exist, all we know is that athletes don’t have to move identically to achieve the same outcome.
That doesn’t tell us whether some technical solutions are more effective, more efficient, more robust, or more trainable than others.
OC retweeted
A good time to re-up one of my favorite research articles I've done: Not only did Ted hit it there, but it was probably more like 530 feet, and it's almost impossible in today's park for anyone to do the same.
--> mlb.com/redsox/news/ted-will…
📍Section 42, Row 37, Seat 21
80 years ago today, Ted Williams hit the longest home run in Fenway Park history. Today, you'll find a lone red seat in the bleachers showing just how far his 502-foot blast traveled.
ALT Wide shot of the Fenway Park bleachers where a lone red seat stands out amongst a sea of green seats.
OC retweeted
Feel it's a useful day to post this again. Last year, I studied every single MLB starting pitcher who debuted from 2008-2015. I grouped them by their average fastball velocity compared to the league.
The hard-throwers were better and had longer careers.
baseballamerica.com/stories/…
OC retweeted
Why does it seem like everyone is throwing 100? Because they are. The numbers of pitchers hitting triple digits keep growing, and Major League Baseball is changing because of it.
On the velocity revolution and how 100 mph is everywhere, free at ESPN: espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/4854…
"When I first came up the average fastball was around 89-91 and now it seems like everyone I'm facing is throwing 100..
You've got guys like Mason Miller throwing 104"
@MikeTrout #PMSLive